TO A VEHICLE MOUNTED WARNING DEVICE

Abstract: The present invention relates to a motor vehicle carried warning device for safeguarding against injury to animals from the knife blades or like cutters of a cutting machine which is towed by or carried by the vehicle, such as a mowing machine having rotary cutters for cutting crops such as grass, hay or like pasture, said crops particularly being intended for ensilage. The device includes one or more IR-detectors (1) which register the movement and body heat of an animal located in front of the vehicle and send a first signal to an acoustic unit (2) which produces a sound, preferably a high frequency sound, which is frightening to the animal, and sends a second signal to an operating unit (6) in the driver's cabin of the vehicle, which activates another acoustic unit (3) which produces a sound that is audible to the human ear, and also a light unit (4), for instance an illuminating warning lamp, these units remaining activated for as long as an animal remains in front of the vehicle.

Description: o a Vehicle Mounted Warning Device. Technical field The present invention relates to a motor vehicle mounted warning device for safeguarding against injury to animals by the cutting blades or the like of a cutting machine which is towed by or mounted on the vehicle, such as mowing machines of the kind which include a rotor cutter which functions to cut crops such as hay, grass and like pasture, said crops being intended as silage. Description of the background art Many different devices which function to warn living creatures of the approach of a moving vehicle are known to the art. The devices taught by DE,A1 32 11 731; DE,A1 32 16 977; DE,A1 34 15 239: DE.A1 3531 392 and DE,C237 30 449 can be mentioned by way of example in this regard. None of the warning devices taught by these patent specifica¬ tions, however, can be used in conjunction with ensiling pasture fodder. Neither can these known devices totally safeguard against the injury or death of an animal, nor function as a precautionary measure against an animal or a part of an animal accompanying the mowed or cut crops into an ensilage silo or into ensilage bales, with the subsequent risk that deadly bacteria such as Clostridium botulinum will grow in the ensilage, and then particularly in ensilage that is packed in plastic bales out on the field, where it is diffi¬ cult to discover the presence of such an animal prior to packaging, which is carried out automatically in agricultural machinery intended herefor. The Botulinum-bacteria can give rise to botulinum toxin centers which can develop and cultivate one of the strongest and most active poisons known to man. Cattle and horses are particularly sensitive to this toxin and as little as 50-100 g of badly contaminated hay may be sufficient to kill a horse. One problem relating to the injury and death of animals caused by agricultural machines when cutting field crops is that animals are able to hide in the high vegetation and remain unseen by the driver of the machine. Different types of animal behave in different ways. Cats, mice, hares and like animals are frightened away by sound when danger is present. Fawns, however, react in the opposite way. They lie still when exposed to danger, so as to remain undiscovered and it is difficult for the driver of the mowing machine to detect such animals. Disclosure of the inventive concept An object of the present invention is to avoid the aforesaid drawbacks known with warning devices for safeguarding against injury to animals by the cutting tools of agricultural machines, particularly when cutting crops for ensilage. This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in that the warning device includes one or more IR-detectors which register the movement and body heat of an animal present in front of the vehicle and which sends a first signal to an acoustic unit which produces a sound, preferably a high frequency sound, which will frighten the animal, and also sends a second signal to the driver's cabin and therewith activates a further acoustic unit which produces a sound that is audible to the human ear and which also activates a warning lamp which remains switched on for as long as an animal is located in front of the vehicle. As long the warning lamp is illuminated and the warning signal sounds, there is a living animal in front of the vehicle and, if the animal refuses to move, the driver is able to leave the vehicle and frighten or carry away the animal concerned. Brief description of the drawings The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating the inventive device; Figure 2 illustrates the inventive detector device mounted on a motor vehicle (tractor), seen from one side, and shows the vertical range of the detector; Figure 3 is a view from above of the detector device shown in Figure 1 and shows the horizontal range of the detector; and Figure 4 shows the detector unit mounted on the front of a motor vehicle. Detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the inven- tion Figure 1 illustrates a preferred.embodiment of an inventive warning device. As shown in the figure, the device includes an IR-detector 1, to which there is connected a detector unit 7 which includes a sweeping or stepping oscillator, an HF- oscillator and a acoustic unit adapted to generate high frequency sound, wherein the detector unit is mounted on the front of the vehicle. The device further includes an operating unit 6 which includes a acoustic unit adapted to generate sound that is audible to the human ear, a light unit which delivers a light signal, and a main switch said operating unit being mounted in the driver's cabin. When the motor vehicle 8 is started-up for use in mowing grass, hay or like pasture which is to be ensilaged, the main switch 5 is switched-on therewith activating various parts of the device. The detector unit 1 will react to the movement of or the heat emitted by an animal that is located in front of the vehicle 8 and accordingly send a signal to the operating unit 6, which in response thereto activates the acoustic unit 3 and the light unit 4 and which, in a similar manner, draws the attention of the driver to the presence of an animal which is in danger of being injured or killed by the knives of the cutting machine. The detector 1 also sends a signal to the sweeping or stepping oscillator which activates the high frequency sound acoustic unit, this sound being intended to frighten away the animal located in front of the vehicle. The acoustic and light signals 3, 4 in the driver's cabin will continue to be active for as long as an animal is present in the danger zone, by virtue of their activation as a result of the heat radiated from the animal. A stationary animal, whether upright or lying down, will also be drawn to the attention of the driver in this way, therewith enabling the animal to be saved from injury or death. This will ensure that the crops harvested and ensilaged will be free from carcass residues, therewith preventing botulinum poisoning of horses and cattle when given the ensilaged fodder. Figure 2 shows the detector unit 7 mounted on the front plate of the motor vehicle, at a height of about 1.5 m seen from one side. Figure 3 is a view from above showing the range of the detector device 1 in the horizontal plane. The detector unit in the front of the vehicle is connected to the operating unit 6 in the driver's cabin and to the vehicle battery 8. The range of the detector device in the horizontal plane is about 110°. Figure 4 is a side view showing the detector unit 7 mounted vertically on the front of the vehicle. Spacer means 9 are arranged on the front to obtain vertical positioning of the detector unit 7. It will be understood that the invention is not restricted to the described and illustrated embodiment and that modifica¬ tions can be made within the scope of the following claims.

Claims: C L A I M S 1. A motor vehicle carried warning device for safeguarding animals against injury from the knife blades or like cutters of a cutting machine which is towed by or carried by the vehicle, such as a mowing machine having rotary cutters for cutting crops such as grass, hay or like pasture, said crops particularly being intended for ensilage, characterized in that the device includes one or more IR-detectors (1) which register the movement and body heat of an animal located in front of the vehicle and send a first signal to an acoustic unit (2) which produces a sound, preferably a high frequency sound, which is frightening to the animal, and sends a second signal to an operating unit (6) in the driver's cabin of the vehicle, this second signal activating another acoustic unit (3) which produces a sound that is audible to the human ear, and also a light unit (4), for instance an illuminating warning lamp, said units remaining activated for as long as an animal remains in front of the vehicle. 2. A warning device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the IR-detector activates a sweeping or stepping oscilla¬ tor and an HF-oscillator (7) such as to warn the animal by means of sound which is audible to the animal. 3. A warning device according to Claims 1-2, characterized in that the detector device (1) with oscillators and acoustic arrangement (7, 2) is mounted on the front of the vehicle. 4. A warning device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the detector arrangement (1) is placed at a maximum of 2 m above the ground. 5. A warning device according to Claims 1-3, characterized in that the detector unit (7) has a range of 110° in the horizon¬ tal plane. 6. A warning device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the device is connected to the vehicle battery.

Inventors: KLANGERYD KJELL, SVENSSON LARS, KLANGERYD, KJELL, SVENSSON, LARS
Applicants: KLANGERYD KJELL, SVENSSON LARS, KLANGERYD, KJELL, SVENSSON, LARS
Application year: 1994
Main classification: A01D75
IPC codes: A01D75, A01M29, A01M31